Review: “Dance Off the Inches: Country Line Dance” DVD

Just in time to coincide with the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo (do you think they planned this, by the way?) is the release of the “Dance Off the Inches: Country Line Dance” workout DVD. It will be available in stores and online on Feb. 3.

Being the lucky girl I am, I had a chance to give this workout a shot a little early. The DVD cover promises we’ll “have a blast while we blast off calories.” I have to say, I did have fun. As with any dance-based workout, I didn’t get bored with the exercise.

Before the workout begins, there’s a 10-minute Step Guide session that breaks down the choreography slowly. The combinations later on in the DVD get a little complicated, so I appreciated the chance to learn the steps first. It definitely helped later.

After a nice warm-up, we start with the first line dance: “Round ‘Em Up.” This is the easiest dance, made up mostly of side steps and turns. Then we move on to the more complicated “Party Boots.” The steps here felt more like an actual line dance, with lots of heel digs and grapevines. The third and last dance, “Barnyard Boogie,” combines the skills from the first two workouts into new combinations. After that, it’s a short cool-down and you’re all done! The whole thing takes about 45 minutes.

Even though I managed to break a sweat doing this DVD, I do have a gripe: It’s not a total body workout. I could feel everything I was doing in my legs, but nowhere else. Even when I added the few upper-body movements (a few lateral arm raises and some shoulder action), I didn’t feel like it was enough, and I definitely didn’t feel like I was engaging my torso at all. Further proof: The instructor, Amy Blackburn, has killer legs. Killer! They’re toned and gorgeous. But she’s soft around the middle, and that’s not something I want to see when I’m trying to get in shape all over.

If you’re looking for a workout that’s fun, fast and targets the legs, this is the DVD for you. Plus, when you’re done, you can head up to the rodeo grounds and show off your new moves.